Gaurdian
by FirstClassAngel
Summary: Star finds somthing odd at the posten and it ends up following her home....can she keep Zack a secret or is he somone her father Cloud knows from the past? Rated T to be safe...


"Guardian" By Heather Tonnessen

Disclaimer: I NO OWN YOU NO SUE. The only thing that belongs to my are the characters I'll name as the story goes on....Starting with Star Strife......

SoilderAngelZack: Hey it's me! (you knew that -_-') This is a story using an original character of Mine "Star Strife" she is as you can probably tell the daughter of Cloud and Tifa Strife. This story takes place in Radiant Garden a couple of years after Kingdom hearts 2.

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Star walked back from the Dark Depths with her head held high, although her shift hadn't ended yet and it was still dark on the horizon line she hadn't encountered Sephiroth today. she smiled to herself as she passed the Crystal Fissure, it was looking like Leon would have to deal with the issues today.

She was about to leave and carry on to the Postern when she heard a small whimper. Star turned around to spot a brindled grey and black dog lying underneath a large fallen crystal. "Hold on buddy, I'll help ya out!" She sprinted over and used Heartscar to pry the heavy crystal off the trapped canine. It struggled to it's feet and limped forward as Star held the crystal steady. When she eased it down she sheathed Heartscar and dug into her pocket. "Here boy, c'mon and drink this, It'll make you feel better."

The young blonde puled the cork off the small glass bottle and poured a little of the potion into her hand. the brindle canine came over and gingerly took a lap from her hand, quickly snorting at the bitter taste. "Yeah my potions don't exactly taste the best but they work wonders on any wound. C'mon and drink it, you need to get back all the health you can little SOILDER." The brindle dog's head snapped up and it's bright sky blue eyes locked on her steely blue-grey ones. It's ears twitched momentarily as it stared at her a moment, she thought it looked familiar. Star snapped back to reality when she felt the dog's tongue lapping up the rest of the potion.

" Good boy." She murmered, scratching him behind the ears. As she stood up she felt herself sigh lightly. "Allright little SOILDER, you gotta go home now and so do I. Here's to seeing you around radiant gardens with your owner." She gave him one last scratch on the top of his head and smiled.

When the young blonde turned and headed towards the Postern again, she felt something brush against her leg. Star looked down to see the brindle dog walking briskly alongside her, matching her stride for stride. She stopped abruptly and it sat at her feet. "No, bad dog. GO HOME. You can't follow me." She turned and jogged forward, reaching the Bailey in no time. Star looked behind her, there was no sign of the black and grey brindled canine anywhere. He probably couldn't make it up the broken stone ledges. The young blonde turned and took a step only to bump into something furry. She looked down to spot the brindle dog gazing up at her with drooping ears.

"No, I'm sorry, I can't. I would love to take you home with me but my dad Cloud would have a fit." at the mention of her father's name the dog stood and it's ears bolted forward. It let out a loud bark, causing star to clamp her hands around it's muzzle. "Shhhhhhh! Please be quiet! I would love to bring you home, I would, but I don't know if I can have a dog." The brindle black and grey canine sat on it's haunches and she released it's muzzle, it's ears drooped again. It looked up at her with sad eyes. "I'm sorry."

Star returned to the Strife residence with a heavy heart, tossing Heartscar onto her bed. she was removing her black leather trench coat when she heard the soft pitter-patter of rain on her second story window. The young blonde's heart immediately went out to the brindle, blue-eyed canine and she re-donned her coat again, running down the stairs. "I'll be back!"

The young blonde ran out to the Bailey to find the brindle grey and black dog huddled in a corner shivering, soaking wet due to the downpour outside. He didn't hear her approach until she draped a grey towel over him. "Hey bud, I'm sorry about before, here." She held out a cooked hot dog with a smile. "It's not much, but it's all i could sneak out of the house without looking suspicious." The sky blue eyes that opened up seemed to glow in the gloomy atmosphere.

"That's it, I can't leave you out here, I'm not that cruel." The dog looked up and seemed to grin. "How fast can you run?" The brindle canine gave a playful stance and then stood up. "Let's go little SOLIDER." She threw the towel in the small bag she brought and gave him a brief nod. "GO!" Both took off into the torrent of falling rain towards the Strife residence.

As Star opened the back door she surveyed the perimeter, Cloud stood in the livingroom and Tifa sat on the couch. The young blonde creaked the door closed partway and turned to the dog. "I gotta check in with them, take your food and go upstairs, first door on the left." The brindle canine snorted in response and his ears flickered.

"Ready? Go." Star opened the back door and stepped inside. "I'm home. Holy Shiva, it's pouring outside."

"Welcome home honey, where'd you run off to?" Tifa said leaning forward.

"I had to run back to Ansem's old study, I forgot my bag in the computer room, I was rushing to avoid the rain." Star said rubbing the back of her neck.

"Your soaked to the mako, go get changed before you catch your death." Cloud said brushing his un-gloved hand through her dripping wet hair.

"Yes daddy." The younger blonde murmured sheepishly. She turned, trudged up the stairs to her room and closed the door. She panicked when she didn't see the dog. Star quickly stepped all the way into the room only to be tackled from her left by the large canine. "Shh!" she said trying to sound strict, she smirked regardless and went into her closet. star came out with a large black quilt and folded it into quarters. "your bed until your dry."

The young blonde went over to her dresser and pulled out her pj's. The brindle canine stared as she pulled her coat off and tossed it over his head. "no one likes a peeping tom furball. The brindle canine laid down with the jacket over his head only to be covered with a shirt and jeans as well. A throaty groan was heard as she pulled the drawstring on her PJ pants closed. "Permission to look granted Kujo." The blue-eyed canine rose his head and shook off the wet garments that covered him.

The young blonde wore light blue drawstring pajama pants and a matching blue spaghetti stap tanktop. she walked over to her dresser after collecting her damp clothes and hanging her coat. When she opened her top drawer she pulled out a hair dryer and plugged it in. "Come here boy." She patted her thigh

and the brindle, blue-eyed dog reluctantly trotted over to the blonde and sat with a groan. "Hey, I ain't havin' my room smell like wet dog." She turned the hairdryer on and began to gently ruffle his wet fur. "Shiva your dirty Fido, you know what? I'm gonna give you a bath." The large canine's ears went back and he whined.

"Relax I'll take one with you." She opened her door slightly. "Dad I'm gonna take a shower real quick okay?" She heard an 'allright' from downstairs and then shut the door. She then opened a door that looked like a closet to reveal a small bathroom. "C'mon boy, don't make me drag you in." The brindle canine lowered his head and whined bashfully. Star wasn't about to give him a choice, she stepped behind him and picking him up by his torso, dragged him into the bathroom. She turned and shut the door and then proceeded to move and turn the shower on.

The young blonde ruffled the blue-eyed canine's fur and then went into the cabinet next to the sink and pulled out some shampoo and conditioner. "I hope you like 'Ocean breeze', it's all I have in stock." The dog's low groan was heard. "It's not that bad, but you smell like dirt." A snort. "There's nothing wrong with that, I just don't want the mud in my bed."

The brindle black and grey dog turned away as she shed her clothes and he hopped into the warm stream of water. The young blonde set out towels and a thick mat before stepping in herself. "See? It's much better than freezing cold rain and mud right?" The wet canine sat in front of her with his eyes shut tight. "relax okay?"

Star squeezed a small amount of shampoo into her hand and started to lather him up. He reluctantly sat still while she scrubbed him head to tail, when he was covered in suds she rinsed him off and washed herself. "Let me get dressed again and I'll dry you okay?" She shut off the shower and wrung the water from her now clean canine remained unmoving with his eyes still closed. Star sighed and got re-dressed then pulled the large black towel off the rung to dry the dog. "all right I'm decent again Fido." The brindle canine hopped out onto the blue floor mat only to be covered and rubbed down with the towel.

"You smell clean. That's much better than before trust me little SOILDER." The blue-eyed dog snorted and it's tail hit the floor with a heavy thud. When she opened the door she walked back to the dresser and picked up the hair dryer again. Before she even patted her leg the brindle canine came over and sat before her allowing her to dry him off. "Your very obedient for a street dog, you probably got here and got lost from someone. That means I'll have to give you back." Star affectionately folded back his ear and then hugged him. "I really wish I could keep you little SOILDER, you look allot like this old picture of my uncle who passed away." The blue-eyed dog looked up as she reached over to the top of her dresser and pulled off a picture of her dad standing next to a fist class SOILDER. The caption below it read: 'The true heroes never made it home...'

"His name was Zack Fair, from what I heard he always followed his dreams. He was, sorry IS a Hero....That was his dream you know, to become one. He's not a Hero because he was strong like Sephiroth, or smart like the Shinra scientists, he's my Hero because he helped my dad make it home alive...." Star held the picture close to her heart as a tear made it's way down her cheek. "He and Cloud were like brothers right off the bat, they toughed it out through various missions together and they got along great, even though my father was only an infantryman at the time, they even managed to kill Sephiroth and escape the SOILDER experiments together.....That is until he died protecting my father from recapture....." Her voice died out as more tears fell off her cheeks. "I wish I could thank him. He made it possible for my father to come home to my mother Tifa. He kept my father safe and protected him so that he could live out the rest of his life and go through with his dreams....My father may still wake up with nightmares about the events that took place because the memories of Zack dying right before his eyes won't stop haunting him, but it only serves to make him fight harder to keep his promise to Zack and believe in himself. That's why my uncle Zack is my Hero, and that has more meaning to me than brute strength or intelligence."

The young blonde closed her eyes totry and break the flow of tears when she hearda soft whimper. Star opened her eyes to see the sky blue eyes of the brindle stray brimmed with tears. "Oh don't you cry too, I can't handle that." The brindle stray scooted closer to her and pressed his muzzle to her shoulder. She gave in wrapping her arms around his necka and holding tight. "You understand me."

She let go of him for a minute to look at the clock and open her bedroom door. "I'm going to bed early okay?"

"Patrol getting to be too much for you?" Cloud countered half serious and yet with a joking tone.

"Nah, I just think it's the rain and the heartless count lately, that kind of stuff wears you down after a while." Said over the rail.

"All right get some good rest honey." Cloud said softly, that was the thing about her dad, while cold and distant to others....her father was openly emotional and close to her.

"See you in the morning Starlight." Tifa said leaning into her father as he put his arms around her.

"Night." Star felt horrible lying to them like that, but she had to keep them out of her room for at least one night. She shut her door and turned to the blue-eyed stray with an actual yawn.

"Well at least half of that wasn't a lie, I'm bushed. Come on, as long as you don't pee in it you can sleep on my bed tonight." the young blonde said sitting under the covers and tapping the bed next to her. The brindle stray leaped onto the bed and Star layed back. With a short groan the canine layed down next to her and gently put it's head on her stomach. she gently stroked behind his ear until she dozed off. About an hour or two later the stray's ears pricked up when he heard footsteps on the stairs. He quickly stood up, softly jumped off the bed without a sound and skittered underneath the bed as the door creaked open. It was the elder blonde SOILDER.

Cloud made his way over to the bed and gave a brief fatherly gaze to his daughter before pulling up the covers a bit more and kissing her on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, Starlight." With that the elder blonde strode out quietly, leaving the door slightly open. The stray's blue eyes glowed in the shadows beneath the blonde teen's bed as it scooted it's way out from underneath. When he was sure the coast was clear, the brindle stray pattered out into the hallway. At the end was another door and as he stopped while passing it he heard the older blonde SOILDER's voice again.

"She's becoming so much like you that it's uncanny......I just hope she dosen't ever have to go through half the stuff we fought against....she's got enough on her plate with the heartless alone." Cloud whispered staring at the ceiling.

"Talking to Zack again?" Tifa sighed softly.

"Yeah. I just have this weird feeling that he's right here with us. I know it's impossible.....but still." The brindle canine's ears folded back and he drug his paws back to the young teen's room.

He took one last look at the young blonde still sleeping soundly in her bedand wondered what she was dreaming, what her dream was. The brindle canine curled up on the black quilt next to her bed and his eyes drifted closed.......

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Well I hope you enjoyed the story so far there's more to come.....If you liked it leave a review and make Zack happy!

(Zack: *wags tail eagerly*)

Some of you may know who I'm referring to as Zack.....If not you'll probably be lost the whole story....Sorry! For those of you who do **the story gets better!!!!!! **


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